FILE - In this Jan. 17, 2012 file photo, Oracle signs are displayed at the National Retail Federation, in New York. Oracle is paying $1.9 billion for Taleo Corp., a company that helps businesses manage their employees. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

Oracle made its second acquisition in three months, agreeing to buy human-resources software company Taleo Corp. for about $1.9 billion to expand in cloud computing and answer a December deal by SAP AG.

Dublin's Taleo gives Oracle tools that help companies manage human resources, recruit employees and set their compensation. The deal provides a counterweight to SAP's planned acquisition of talent-management company SuccessFactors for $3.4 billion, according to Anurag Rana, a Bloomberg Industries analyst. Both Taleo and SuccessFactors sell their software as subscriptions over the Web rather than installing it on customers' computers.

"It's where the puck is going," said Rana, a senior software analyst. "That's the model most software companies will go to over the next several years."

Oracle is using acquisitions to build its cloud business as part of efforts to help blunt the impact of a possible slowdown in software sales growth. Cloud software is meant to appeal to customers seeking to save money by letting them access computing power over the Web.

Chief Executive Officer Larry Ellison has snapped up more than 70 companies in a $40 billion buying spree to add programs that help large corporations manage human resources and operations. In October, Oracle agreed to buy RightNow Technologies for $1.5 billion.

The Taleo deal may help Oracle avoid losing potential sales to closely held HR software maker Workday, which plans an initial public offering this year. Oracle is also competing in the software-as-a-service market with Salesforce.com, Cowen & Co. analyst Peter Goldmacher said in a research note Thursday.

In December, Oracle reported fiscal second-quarter earnings that missed analysts' estimates as the company had trouble closing deals.

Mark Moerdler, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. in New York, said Taleo fits Oracle's strategy of aggressively moving into the fast-growing cloud-computing market.

"It gives them, as did RightNow, knowledge and expertise DNA in the software-as-a-service market," said Moerdler, who rates Oracle "market perform."

Taleo's technology is used by 5,000 organizations. The acquisition is expected to close midyear, Oracle said.

The acquisition gives Taleo an enterprise value of 4.7 times its estimated sales this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. SAP paid 7.4 times SuccessFactors' estimated sales.